Animation: How Three Men You Probably Never Heard of Helped End WWII

H.M.S. Petard was a British Navy destroyer during WWII. It was responsible for sinking German, Italian, and Japanese submarines and carried three men of incredible bravery and courage. One night, after a 10-hour battle in the Mediterranean, those men dived into the sea and boarded a sinking German U-boat, recovering vital Nazi documents and secret codebooks that helped crack the Enigma code, which kept U-boat communications completely blocked from British code breakers for 10 months. This short animation by Mike Brookes is a tribute to those heroic men of H.M.S. Petard who ultimately helped to win WWII.

The Short Film Showcase spotlights exceptional short videos created by filmmakers from around the web and selected by National Geographic editors. We look for work that affirms National Geographic's belief in the power of science, exploration, and storytelling to change the world. The filmmakers created the content presented, and the opinions expressed are their own, not those of National Geographic Partners.

Animation: How Three Men You Probably Never Heard of Helped End WWII

H.M.S. Petard was a British Navy destroyer during WWII. It was responsible for sinking German, Italian, and Japanese submarines and carried three men of incredible bravery and courage. One night, after a 10-hour battle in the Mediterranean, those men dived into the sea and boarded a sinking German U-boat, recovering vital Nazi documents and secret codebooks that helped crack the Enigma code, which kept U-boat communications completely blocked from British code breakers for 10 months. This short animation by Mike Brookes is a tribute to those heroic men of H.M.S. Petard who ultimately helped to win WWII.

The Short Film Showcase spotlights exceptional short videos created by filmmakers from around the web and selected by National Geographic editors. We look for work that affirms National Geographic's belief in the power of science, exploration, and storytelling to change the world. The filmmakers created the content presented, and the opinions expressed are their own, not those of National Geographic Partners.